My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: The Phils are outgunned as they lose to the Twins, 11-7.

The Phils are outgunned from the start as they lose to the Twins, 11-7.

The Twins take a 2-0 lead in the first as, with one man on, and with two men out, Justin Morneau hits a two-run home run, his third home run of the spring, scoring Joe Mauer, who had just singled. The Twins added to their lead in the second as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Luke Hughes, who had started the inning off with a single, then moved up to second base on Danny Valencia’s single, would score on pitcher Vance Worley’s force attempt, throwing error to second base on Ben Revere’s ground ball, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead, while allowing Valencia, who had earlier singled, to reach second base, and Revere to reach first. Two batters later, after Alexi Casilla had moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt, 5-3, the Twins took a 4-0 lead as Denard Span hits a sacrifice fly, knocking in Valencia. The Phils got a run back in the third as, with runners on the corners, and with one man out, Jimmy Rollins hits an RBI single, knocking in Lou Montanez, who had earlier doubled, then went to third on Miguel Abreu’s single, making it a 4-1 Twins’ lead, while sending Abreu, who had earlier singled, up to second base. The Twins got the run back in the fourth as, with two men on, and with no one out, Span hits an RBI single, knocking in Valencia, who had earlier singled, then went to third on second baseman Abreu’s throwing error on Casilla’s grounder, giving the Twins a 5-1 lead, while moving Casilla, who was safe on Abreu’s error, up to second base. Two batters latter, after Jamey Carroll had loaded up the bases with a single, moving both runners up a base, the Twins took a 6-1 lead as Mauer hits an RBI single, scoring Casilla, while sending Span on to third and Carroll up to second base. The Twins then took a 7-1 lead as, with the bases still loaded, and still with one man out, Morneau hits an RBI single, scoring Span, while moving the other runners up a base. The Twins then made it an 8-1 lead as Josh Willingham hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Carroll. The Twins then broke the game wide open as, with two men on, and now with two men out, Hughes hits a three-run home run, his fifth home run of the spring, scoring both Mauer and Morneau, giving the Twins an 11-1 lead. The Phils got a run back in the fifth as, with a runner on second, and with nobody out, Carlos Ruiz hits an RBI double, scoring Rollins, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Mauer’s passed ball, cutting the Twins’ lead down to 11-2. The Phils then cut the Twins’ lead down to 11-3 in the seventh as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Hunter Pence hits an RBI double, knocking in pinch runner Albert Cartwright, who was pinch running for Rollins, who earlier had been hit by a pitch, then moved up to second base on Tuffy Gosewisch’s single, while sending Gosewich, who had just singled, on to third base. The Phils then made it an 11-4 Twins’ lead as pinch hitter Erik Kratz hits an RBI ground out, 6-3, scoring Gosewisch. Two batters later, after Hector Luna had sent Pence on to third base on a single, to put runners on the corners, Pence would come in to score on a Glen Perkins’ wild pitch, making it an 11-5 Twins’ lead, while sending Luna up to second base. The Phils then made it an 11-6 Twins’ lead in the eighth as, with one man on, and with two men out, Gosewisch hits an RBI single, scoring Pete Orr, who had earlier doubled. The Phils would then make it an 11-7 Twins’ lead in the ninth as, with one man out, Luna hits a solo home run, his third home run of the spring. That would end up being the final score as Laynce Nix grounded out, 4-3, for the game’s final out.

Vance Worley (1-3, 4.50) took the lost as he lasted four innings, giving up eleven runs, only five of which were earned, on eleven hits, while striking out three. Raul Valdes and David Herndon would combine for four scoreless innings, giving up three hits (Valdes (2), Herndon (1)) between them, while striking out four (two batters apiece). Francisco Liriano (2-1, 2.45) got the win as he pitched four innings, plus two batters, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk, while striking out three. Brian Duensing pitched two scoreless innings, giving up a hit, while striking out one. Glen Perkins went an inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a wild pitch, as he struck out two. Matt Capps pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits, while striking out a batter. Alex Burnett pitched an inning, giving up a run on a hit and a walk, while striking out one.

The Phils had fifteen hits in the game, with Hector Luna leading the ballclub with three hits (2 Singles, Home Run, RBI). Jimmy Rollins (Singles, RBI), Carlos Ruiz (Single, Double, RBI), Tuffy Gosewisch (Singles, RBI), Lou Montanez (Single, Double) and Miguel Abreu (Single, Double) all followed with two hits each. Hunter Pence (Double, RBI) and Pete Orr (Double) had the other two Phils’ hits. Pinch Hitter Erik Kratz had the other Phil RBI with a ground out, while the final Phil run came in on a wild pitch. The Phils also had two walks and a hit batter (Rollins).

The next Phils (11-14) game will be a home game at Bright House Field in Clearwater against the Blue Jays (7-15). Start time is 1:05 pm EDT.

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